MOBILE, Alabama — A federal judge in Mobile last week sent a child enticement charge against a Mobile County doctor to a grand jury and ordered him to remain in jail.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Katherine "Kit" Nelson noted that the defendant, Murali Krishna Aalabasavaraja Reddy, has been in the United States for just 11 months and has no family in the Mobile area.

"I see limited motivation for him to remain in this nation," she said.

Reddy, a 29-year-old resident physician at the University of South Alabama Children’s & Women’s Hospital, stands accused of arranging a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old boy who turned out to be an undercover officer.

Reddy’s attorneys had asked that Nelson allow the India native to live under house arrest with his sister, a computer software engineer who lives in a Minneapolis suburb. Defense lawyer Neil Hanley said the U.S. Probation Office in Minnesota could ensure that Reddy does not flee.

"House arrest is just as effective as it is here," he said. "There is no difference."

Reddy’s sister told Nelson that her brother was a good student growing up in India and never has been in trouble before. She said he has contributed money to a charitable boarding school run by their father, a retired veterinarian.

Hanley pointed to testimony last week from the lead investigator, Saraland police Cpl. James Morton, that the entire investigation — from his answer of Reddy’s Craigslist advertisement seeking a young male companion, to the arrest at Windsor Place Apartments on May 23 — lasted just a few hours.

"This is a defensible case," he told the judge. "We’ll probably end up trying the case."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Costello said it would be "utterly inappropriate" to allow the defendant to live with is sister, who has 2 young children. Costello said the prosecution has a strong case.

"The evidence is what it is," he said. "It’s laid out pretty clearly in the affidavit." ÂÂ